#FiveOnFriday is an original, weekly feature on NightOwlReader.com. Each week I talk about favorite books, anticipated reads, and other bookish topics. Enjoy!
Sports romance. What is it about an athlete in a story that makes me go gaga and want to eat them up with a spoon? These books are like catnip to me and I just can’t get enough. Here are my 5 favorite sports romances, both single books and series (in no particular order).
1. The Game On Series by Kristen Callihan
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As I mentioned in my review of Idol (read that here), The Hook Up single-handedly brought me out of the biggest book funk ever. It gave me butterflies and also ignited my love of sports romances, so I am a huge fan. The Hook Up and the remainder of this football series are so good and are probably my favorite in the sports sub-genre. The writing and the characters are fantastic, and I can’t recommend them enough.
2. The Off-Campus series by Elle Kennedy
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This hockey series has everything I look for in books: awesome writing, intriguing storylines, and fantastic characters. There are a lot of college-aged shenanigans in all of these, but the characters grow so much in each book. My favorite guy is Dean in The Score (read my review here), though. He’s pretty yummy!
3. The Wall of Winnipeg and Me & Kulti by Mariana Zapata
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While these are not a series, they are two separate books about athletes. Wall of Winnipeg is about a grumpy football player and Kulti is about a grumpy soccer player. However, both are slow-burning romances with lots of banter and clever characters. And both are excellent.
4. The Pucked series by Helena Hunting
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I have loved this series since the first page of Pucked. Violet is my spirit animal and I love her so much. She is inappropriate and has no filter, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it works for me. Her relationship with Alex is awesome and so are her friends and family. The second book, Pucked Up, wasn’t my favorite, but Pucked Over (read my review here)and Forever Pucked definitely made up for it and tie for my favorite of the series.
5. The Rugby series by Penny Reid and L.H. Cosway
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I don’t know much about rugby, but I know that I love books about the players. The Hooker and the Hermit is a favorite because I was able to identify with Annie, who is an introverted blogger (hmm, that sounds familiar!). I didn’t think I would like The Player and the Pixie because the hero, Sean, is a major prick in the first book. However, he completely redeems himself in the second (read my review here). Both are witty and funny, so I highly recommend them.
